Tom Newberry was a 2nd round pick out of little known Wisconsin-La Crosse by the LA Rams in 1986. He developed so quickly in camp that the Rams felt comfortable moving long time offensive lineman Kent Hill to the Oilers as part of the Jim Everett trade. After settling in Tom earned AP honors in both 1988 and 1989. Versatile, durable, and aggressive, Tom was a fixture on the offensive line for the Rams throughout most of his career in LA starting 120 games at guard and 8 at center over 9 seasons. In 1995 Tom signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he played a final season for the team, and appeared in Super Bowl XXX.
Tom lives in Montana and is a big LOS ANGELES Rams fan. His autograph is pretty… pedestrian. I mean, Tom don’t get me wrong if you read this. I appreciate the subtle loop at the top of the T but everything else seems to fall into place with scribble for the last name. I think it says more about Tom’s workmanlike ethic that allowed him to stand out over his more prideful competitors over his well regarded career. I like the ProSet, Score, and GameDay cards a lot. They all show Tom pulling or blocking in every shot. His Fleer leaves much to be imagined, but it is still a well designed canvas.
Lance Moore played college ball for the Toledo Rockets. The Rockets have become sort of a mid-school pipeline for really sneaky offensive talent over the years- and Moore was no different. Posting strong numbers his Junior (103 receptions for 1194 yards and 9 TDs), and Senior years (90 receptions for 1189 yards and 14 TDs), Moore did not get selected in the 2005 NFL Draft. Who knows why Lance wasn’t selected, but that didn’t stop him from signing with the Cleveland Browns. After a quick stop there he’d find himself signed to the Saints practice squad.
In 2006 the Saints elected to send Moore overseas to the NFL developmental league, the NFLE. He’d play for the Berlin Thunder and post a modest 12 receptions for 207 yards, a 68 yard long and 1 TD. He’d return stateside to the Saints and be active for 4 games, catching his first pass, a 10 yard reception from Drew Brees in a week 3 contest against the Carolina Panthers. Soon thereafter, Lance was sent back to the practice squad.
Moore firmly established himself as a fan favorite and popular locker room presence. A consummate professional, Lance was continually working on perfecting his game. Maybe it helped that he was undrafted, but Lance is every man’s underdog story.
Things finally stated paying off in 2007. As a situational starter, Lance played in all 16 games (starting 4) and posted 32 receptions for 302 yards and 2 TDs. He topped those numbers in 2008 with a career high 121 targets that he converted into 79 receptions for 928 yards and 10 TDs. Later in his career, Lance posted a career high 1041 yards in 2012, but he is perhaps best known for catching a two point conversion from Drew Brees cementing the team’s domination over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. While experiencing some measure of success over the next few seasons, Lance was released by the Saints in 2014.
He’d play the next two seasons for the Steelers (2014) and Lions (2015) before finally deciding to hang up the cleats. – He’d sign a one day contract with the Saints, where Lance was most happy to retire.
Lance signed these two cards for me in a pretty quick snap. In 2018 he was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame alongside runningback Pierre Thomas. A key and unsung cog of the mighty Saints Super Bowl run, Moore posted 346 catches for 4281 yards an 38 TDs over his time with Who Dat Nation. Pretty good for an undrafted free agent.
Really love this Score 2009 edition of Lance. Can’t say more about the design of the card other than Panini had variants of this design across multiple sets. It forms a very nice diamond shape there in the center for the image canvas. It’s very subtle, because the design is masking it with the diagonal streaks across the corner, but regardless it is very strong. Lance’s autograph compliments it very well. Contradict this one with Score’s 2011 entry- a very plain and boring treatment. While it gets the message across of the player, his team, and a strong photo, the canvas design itself is very tired looking. Thankfully Lance’s strong autograph is there to rescue them both.
Merril Hoge. Few players angered me more than Merril Hoge during the Red Gun/ Run ‘N Shoot era of the Houston Oilers. I considered him an ‘arch’ and he loved saying nasty things about the upstart Oilers, who by 1987 had started becoming bullies in the AFC Central under head coach Jerry Glanville. The Steelers had finally gone into a deep depression, and the Oilers were eager to take the stick to their rivals. Nobody expected much of the Steelers in 1989 as they had just come off of a 5-11 record from the previous year. Despite this they rallied down the stretch and put together a 9-7 record. The Oilers had thumped the Steelers twice during the regular season, but they’d be denied in the playoffs losing 26-23, causing Jerry to lose his job. I want to even say that Hoge said something to the media nasty about the Oilers, and it just stuck with me all those years.
I remember opening up my first packs of cards, and in a lot of cases, there was a Merril Hoge card to twist the knife just a little more. Even when I played Tecmo Super Bowl, I was reticent to use Merril because of the fact that he epitomized that Steelers working man mantra and the upset that made me so sore. Then after his playing days concluded, he became a commentator, and the Oilers left Houston even- I still got a furrowed brow when he’d come on ESPN.
Dependable fullback Merril Hoge played for the Idaho State Bengals (a fact often repeated by national commentators almost every time he touched the ball) from 1983 to 1986. He finished his 4 years there with almost 5500 all-purpose yards, but more importantly the Big Sky Conference despite its trappings, prepared him for the rigors of pro level offenses.
After being selected in the 10th round of the 1987 draft, Merril played 7 seasons for the Steelers at fullback. A versatile player out of the backfield, Merril was an excellent receiver and blocker who was rarely missed an assignment. He had a career high 772 yards rushing in 1990, and a career high 487 yards receiving in 1988.
In 1994, Merril signed with the Chicago Bears, but suffered a terrible neck injury ending his career. Merril is also a cancer survivor beating non-hodskin’s lymphoma.
Merril had a great selection of cards, so it was tough to even settle on just these 4. His Score 1990 is one of my favorite, and was from a rain soaked affair versus the Miami Dolphins that year. (Sammie Smith has a corresponding card from that game, and Mike Mularkey has been immortalized in a sports photo from that game that ProSet did.) His Action Packed 1991 card does everything right in this one, and the determination on Merril’s face really makes you feel as though you are a part of the action.
G/GS
RUSH
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
114/84
825
3139
3.8
21
41
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
254
2133
8.4
13
40
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
